During my morning vinyasa class this morning the instructor was talking about fear. She was reading a passage from a book, about how your fear will hold you back from doing the things that you want in life. My fear during class...handstands. I have always wanted to be able to do a handstand in class, but never even gave it the effort. How was I supposed to get good at something if I never even gave it a try? So I did, even though I was so afraid of falling or looking silly, I tried. With the help of the teacher, she held my legs (I kicked her in the head, oops), I was able to hold a handstand and lower back down with out crashing to the floor. I had done it, if even for a brief moment and with help I did it! I decided to practice at home and to one day stick that handstand on my own in class. This got me thinking about other fears I had off my mat, yoga is great like that, you really listen to yourself during that time and are so in the moment but it carries to other parts of your life.
So this reading about fear really struck home with me because when I was contemplating starting On Fire Fitness I had a lot of fear. I was afraid to put time and heart into something only to have it fail. There was always that voice lingering in the back of my mind...what if it doesn't work. I had to work at it, and overcome these fears. My desire to start my own business, something that I have always wanted, became bigger than that fear. I started slow and put together my outline, talked with friends, family, and clients and then decided to start a Facebook page. Again, there was that fear, what if no one likes my page, what if what I post is not worth the time I am putting in. But I had to trust that if I was patient and worked at it that I would get there. I know that I have to have the same outlook to my business goals as I do for my fitness goals, give your best, give it time and consistency and don't give up. If I can help just one person start exercising again, or start to think about the food they are eating then it is worth it. At the end of the day we have one body to live in and we need to take care of that body, the whole thing, even the mind and the soul. We have to take ownership and decide that we are worth the time and effort to work at over coming those fears that hold us back from being who we want to be. Because if we never try then there is not that option of failure, but I realize there is something greater than that fear, regret. I would rather try and fail than regret never having tried at all. What would you achieve if you knew you could not fail?